# Humidor won't stay at levels I want



## MattSmoke (Jun 17, 2009)

So my humidor always dips down to 60% humidity no matter what I do. I have Boveda 69% pack in there. I tried using Xicar humidity beads at 70% also. Humidor always drops down to 60%.

I checked my hydrometer's accuracy using the salt test and it is spot on.

75-100 count Spanish cedar lined humidor with tray.

any ideas what might be happening?


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## Stradawhovious (Oct 17, 2012)

How did you season it?

What kind of humidor is it?

How is the seal?

Where is it located?

What is your ambient RH?


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

If it was initially seasoned correctly then it is leaking, end of story sorry.


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

MattSmoke said:


> So my humidor always dips down to 60% humidity no matter what I do. I have Boveda 69% pack in there. I tried using Xicar humidity beads at 70% also. Humidor always drops down to 60%.
> I checked my hydrometer's accuracy using the salt test and it is spot on.75-100 count Spanish cedar lined humidor with tray.
> 
> any ideas what might be happening?


If you have the front-mounted hygrometer ( not hydrometer) it will always read -5 degrees from what the top tray reads. That might be part of your issue.
I use two analogue, one bottom and one top.


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## MattSmoke (Jun 17, 2009)

Stradawhovious said:


> How did you season it?
> 
> What kind of humidor is it?
> Don't know brand, was given to me a few years ago
> ...


I should check that and see


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## MattSmoke (Jun 17, 2009)

Nah, don't have that Bondo


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## MattSmoke (Jun 17, 2009)

Well that is weird. Seems to have been fine the past few years for all of a sudden it to go bad like that


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## Macrophylla (Dec 15, 2012)

How many Boveda packs you have in there? They recommend 1 for the humidor + 1 per 50 cigars worth of capacity so you should have three packs.


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## Wicked_Rhube (Jul 29, 2012)

leakage! Smash that thing, then put the cedar pieces in a big ass piece of tupperware, problem solved.


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## jurgenph (Jun 29, 2011)

MattSmoke said:


> So my humidor always dips down to 60% humidity no matter what I do. I have Boveda 69% pack in there. I tried using Xicar humidity beads at 70% also. Humidor always drops down to 60%.
> 
> I checked my hydrometer's accuracy using the salt test and it is spot on.


check your hygrometer with that boveda pack instead of the salt test, see if it's still spot on. recalibrate as needed.

J.


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## ShortFuse (Jun 6, 2011)

I had a glass top and it leaked terribly from the glass not being seated properly. It was a $30 steal on CBID. I got what I paid for. 

I recommend getting a nice piece of tupperware to hold your stash while you figure out a solution.


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## MattSmoke (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the help. I think I will store them temporaily in a tuppeware container until I figure out what the hell is going on. In the meantime I will get some more Boveda packs to see if that helps. 

I still think it is strange for a humidor that has been five for years to all of a sudden develop an issue like this. Do humidors go bad?


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

ShortFuse said:


> I had a glass top and it leaked terribly from the glass not being seated properly. It was a $30 steal on CBID. I got what I paid for.
> 
> I recommend getting a nice piece of tupperware to hold your stash while you figure out a solution.


Those are mine. They are CC , were $70 each, and from what I hear, I got lucky. Apparently Twice. :*)


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

MattSmoke said:


> So my humidor always dips down to 60% humidity no matter what I do. I have Boveda 69% pack in there. I tried using Xicar humidity beads at 70% also. Humidor always drops down to 60%.
> 
> I checked my hydrometer's accuracy using the salt test and it is spot on.
> 
> ...


Winter is here R/H is low my guess is the seal is not up to the task at hand!
KITTY LITTER is your friend!


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## Cigar Noob (May 22, 2011)

if you are running the heat a lot your house RH may be 10-20%. If it is a small humidor it may just not have enough buffering inside to handle that huge gap in RH. My suggestions is buy a $5 tupperware and consider the problem solved.


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## ShortFuse (Jun 6, 2011)

Bondo 440 said:


> Those are mine. They are CC , were $70 each, and from what I hear, I got lucky. Apparently Twice. :*)


My bad! I'm not trashing glasstops, I just had one that wasn't quite up to par.


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

ShortFuse said:


> My bad! I'm not trashing glasstops, I just had one that wasn't quite up to par.


Thanks Thom. I think my comment sounded a little bit more personal than I actually intended. 
Yeah you get what you pay for. And Chinador and glasstop is asking for double trouble.

Back to the O.P., I noticed my humis I keep at 65% but lately have been steady 60-61% . I use KL. So last night I put my PG bar in there and took it out this morning. Back at 65%. This is in contrast to wetting the KL, which I like to avoid. Of course if he is leaking, then he is kaput.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

ShortFuse said:


> My bad! I'm not trashing glasstops, I just had one that wasn't quite up to par.


I never had any luck with them either!



Bondo 440 said:


> Thanks Thom. I think my comment sounded a little bit more personal than I actually intended.
> Yeah you get what you pay for. And Chinador and glasstop is asking for double trouble.
> 
> Back to the O.P., I noticed my humis I keep at 65% but lately have been steady 60-61% . I use KL. So last night I put my PG bar in there and took it out this morning. Back at 65%. This is in contrast to wetting the KL, which I like to avoid. Of course if he is leaking, then he is kaput.


Glad yours are tight sealing you can run a bead of hot glue around the inside of the glass if you still have a dip in R/H old trick i learned. 2nd adding some salt to the water you hydrate the Kitty Litter with will raise R/H!


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

Tony:
I saw an RH spike in the summer, so I went to KL. So I expected RH to sink back down in the winter. And it has. I added a small increment of DW to my KL already. So you're saying add ordinary table salt?


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Bondo 440 said:


> Tony:
> I saw an RH spike in the summer, so I went to KL. So I expected RH to sink back down in the winter. And it has. I added a small increment of DW to my KL already. So you're saying add ordinary table salt?


I have used table salt but have found sea salt works better and Mineral salts AKA Epsom salt works best!
Start slow all this info was on the Kitty Litter thread as they were early experiments.
Good Luck!


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## tntclip (Oct 14, 2012)

I have a glass topped(among many others) 500count humi that works exceptional. IMO it has nothing to do with glass but the quality of the piece as a whole.


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## Cigar Noob (May 22, 2011)

tntclip said:


> I have a glass topped(among many others) 500count humi that works exceptional. IMO it has nothing to do with glass but the quality of the piece as a whole.


Very true statement. Glass is much better at being a barrier to air exchange than SC. The seal seems to be the issue and a bead of silicone should improve the integrity of it if someone feels it is leaking.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Bondo 440 said:


> Tony:
> I saw an RH spike in the summer, so I went to KL. So I expected RH to sink back down in the winter. And it has. I added a small increment of DW to my KL already. So you're saying add ordinary table salt?


How did ya make out?


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## tpharkman (Feb 20, 2010)

My coolidor is currently and has been at 55 rh for a long time and I have not noticed a decline in my smoking experience. I am starting to wonder how much rh really matters, within reason of course. There is the 70 rh crowd, the 65 rh crowd, the 62 rh crowd, the 60 rh crowd, and yes the 55 rh crowd. That is a pretty wide range of opinion for something we seem to so often fret about.

I did just recalibrate my hygrometers and with a 62 boveda pack one of them read 62 rh and the other 60 rh. I guess I just prefer my smokes more on the dry side of life.


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> How did ya make out?


I added some more distilled water and about 1/2 a tsp of epsom salt earlier today. ( to the kitty litter ) It went from 60 to 62. Both humidors.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Bondo 440 said:


> I added some more distilled water and about 1/2 a tsp of epsom salt earlier today. It went from 60 to 62. Both humidors.


Well you know you just invented your own beads all they are is Silica gel and mineral salts!
Time to start you own thread!
Lets see Kitty Litter Set Up II!:dude:


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

tpharkman said:


> My coolidor is currently and has been at 55 rh for a long time and I have not noticed a decline in my smoking experience. I am starting to wonder how much rh really matters, within reason of course. There is the 70 rh crowd, the 65 rh crowd, the 62 rh crowd, the 60 rh crowd, and yes the 55 rh crowd. That is a pretty wide range of opinion for something we seem to so often fret about.
> 
> I did just recalibrate my hygrometers and with a 62 boveda pack one of them read 62 rh and the other 60 rh. I guess I just prefer my smokes more on the dry side of life.


I used to keep my cigars at 70 % RH and they would unravel. I saw guys here using 63-65 so I discarded the PG bar for Kitty Litter and got to 63-65 and never have I had a problem since. That's why, with the seasonal change, I want to keep it within that range.


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## Bondo 440 (Jul 24, 2012)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Well you know you just invented your own beads all they are is Silica gel and mineral salts!
> Time to start you own thread!
> Lets see Kitty Litter Set Up II!:dude:


:lol: maybe so, but nobody reads my threads :lol: So I don't post them. Instead I hijack HaHa.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Bondo 440 said:


> :lol: maybe so, but nobody reads my threads :lol: So I don't post them. Instead I hijack HaHa.


I read your threads!:frusty:oke:eace:


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## The Counselor (Jun 19, 2012)

I've been having the same issues as well. I also have a glass top and a few weeks ago I sealed the inside of the glass including the area where the analog hygrometer is at. I use heartfelt beads and have more then doubled the amount needed for the size. I think with winter and the low humidity levels maybe that's why my humidity has been around 61 to 62%. I run 65% beads. The seal is fine and I used the paper method to test it. The levels seem acceptable. What I have noticed is that when the temperature goes up so does humidity and vise versa. 

Regards,


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## splattttttt (May 17, 2012)

don't let the difference between relative humidity and total saturation throw you. Two totally different things.
Relative humidity is just a way to measure the interaction between temperature and moisture. 
Heat will raise your readings where colder temps will lower it.
Total saturation can only occur if there is moisture present. Example, in a desert where temp reach over 100*f, total saturation will never happen. 
If you were to place a perfectly working humidor made of wood in a desert where temp were either high or low, the box will dry out. Keep the room moist or add more media and dw in the unit.
High quality coolers and tupperware are way less susceptible to outside conditions, there fore are a great alternative during arid conditions.


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